3 Signs God Is Saying, “It’s the Right Time to Take It”

Throughout Scripture, we are taught the principle of “timing.” As Ecclesiastes 3:1 states, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven . . .”

So here are 3 biblical ways you can know when it’s the right time to pursue a particular blessing that you desire, whether that be a certain career goal, a relationship hope, or some other personal longing you have.

1. It’s the Right Time to Pursue a Certain Blessing When You Can Let It Go If You Begin to Realize It’s Not Good for You

As a child, I remember reading Where the Red Fern Grows and learning about how they use to trap raccoons. They would make a trap with a whole in it, and inside the trap they would put something shining that would attract the raccoon’s attention. The raccoon could then put his paw through the hole and grab the object, but when his fist was clenched, he could not then get his paw back out. Rather than drop the object and be free, the raccoon would stubbornly keep clenching it and thus stay stuck.

Likewise, we can know we are not ready for a blessing if we are not ready to let it go once we realize it is not good for us. If you get into a relationship but then realize it’s leading you into sin, can you let it go or will you stay in it? If you start pursuing a certain career but then start losing your soul in the process, will you change your career path or keep going the way you are going?

It’s not the right time to pursue a blessing if you know that blessing will consume you and make you disobey God to keep it. But if you are mature enough to let something go if you begin to realize it’s not good for you, this is a healthy sign it could be the right time to start pursuing it.

Once you are ready to pursue this blessing with pure motives, then you should feel free to pursue it (James 4:3).

2. It’s the Right Time to Pursue a Certain Blessing When You Can Pursue It Without Sinning Externally (or Internally)

No matter what motive you have, there are still certain rules we must follow. Even if you do a bad thing for a good reason, it is still a bad thing in God’s eyes. For example:

• Many Christians crave to be in a relationship, they begin to connect with a non-believer, and then they justify dating this unbeliever because they want this person to become a Christian. But the fact that your motive for dating is to witness to this person does not change the biblical command to not be unequally yoked (2 Corinthians 6:14).
• Sometimes we lie because we don’t want to hurt someone. But even if your motive is good, when you lie, you are still breaking God’s commands (Proverbs 12:22).
• You can say you are just trying to be culturally relevant so you can be a better witness to the world. But if you are living like the world in word and deed, you are a friend of the world and an enemy of God (James 4:4).

Whether it be a career, a relationship, or some other desire, you are only ready to pursue this blessing when you are prepared to obey God in both your heart and your actions.

3. It’s the Right Time to Pursue a Certain Blessing When God Gives You the Opportunities Only He Can Supply

So far we’ve really been just talking about our side of the equation. But for anything good to come into our lives, we must also realize God has to give it (James 1:17).

Satan will tempt you into his trap by suggesting you can get whatever you want regardless of God’s timing or not. But when you pursue a good thing that God does not want for you right now, it will actually be a curse in the end (Proverbs 19:2, Proverbs 20:21).

In other words, no matter how hard you try, no matter how ready you think you are, God is the one who still needs to sovereignly give you the opportunities to go after the things you desire. Yes, it will take personal effort. But without God blessing it, your efforts won’t be blessed. As Psalm 127:1-2 explains:

Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.”

Will you know when God is opening a relationship door for you? Here is an article called 5 Things that Happen When God Is Opening a Relationship Door for You.